Wind Beneath My Wings
by Cheshire's Chipped Cup
Summary: Regina has grown sick of keeping her best chess piece in her prison, so she decides to turn poor Belle into an animal. Belle must now learn how to adjust to being a fluffy feathery barn owl who has no idea how to fly, while getting back to her True Love. Was watching 'Legend of the Guardians' while writing Rumbelle, and this is what happened. Rated 'T' just in case


**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Once Upon A Time or Legend of the Guardians, but that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun with them**

**Title: Wind Beneath My...Wings?! (Fanfic won't allow '?')**

**Note: This story actually has nothing to do with the movie**

**Not related to any of my other stories, just a little bit of fun to be delivered in three pieces.**

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Inside the murky dank cell Belle sighed as she scratched another line into the wall, marking her eighty-third day trapped in the Evil Queen's prison. She had given up hope of waiting for her True Love to rescue her, he probably didn't even know she was in trouble; maybe he did, but he just didn't care.

Rumplestiltskin hadn't exactly been all too happy with her when they parted ways; he had kicked her out after all. All she wanted was to get back to him, to prove to him that her love for him was true, that as long as she still drew breath she would fight for him. But there was nothing she could do from inside these four cold walls, she couldn't even call for him; Regina had seen to that.

All manner of charms and spells were cast upon her room so that her voice could not carry past these confines, her cries could not reach her beloved as long as she remained in here. She had looked for escape in many different forms, but her efforts had been proved in vain. If Regina was one thing, she was thorough.

A chilly breeze snuck into her cage through the barred window, making her shiver as it whispered over her bare legs; naked from the knee down. Regina hadn't even seen fit to give her a dress of modest length and now Belle was dressed as tacky as a tavern whore, the flimsy blue fabric hugging her every curve and bump when damp as though she wore nothing at all. The constant humidity of the room kept her quite sticky all the time. Her only salvation for her dignity was the moth-eaten blanket she was given to keep warm at night, so small she had taken to wearing it as a shawl to fight off the chill that would otherwise sink into her bones. Little food had left the beautiful maiden thin and pale, dark shadows beneath her eyes, too afraid to sleep most nights lest the guard outside her door try to sneak in just like he was always saying he would.

When the cruel night saw fit to tease her of her predicament, she would curl up in her cot and fill her head with memories of her True Love, of the Dark Castle, and the life they shared before everything went wrong. The memory of his shrill laughter and his dark eyes brought warmth to her chest while thoughts of the room he had given her when he deemed the dungeon unfit would make her skin tingle with longing, remembering the way it would never get cold in there. Her bed was always piled high with the loveliest pillows in the realm, covers of soft fur that were already warm when she climbed into bed. She never had a problem getting to sleep when she was there.

Her mind was tugged forcefully back to reality when the door to her cell was flung open without the use of a key; three guesses who it could be. When Regina swept in like a dark angel, Belle couldn't help but roll her eyes in secret at the suffocating size of the ego that had just entered. Normally she would have felt guilty for thinking such snark remarks, but in the case of this woman she felt no shame.

"Morning, your majesty," Belle proclaimed with the most welcoming smile she could manage.

The Queen scoffed at her attempt at niceties, clearly not here to swap idle chitchat. "I have made a decision about you, my dear"

"Are you planning to kill me after all?" While there was a hint of fear in her voice, it sounded like nothing more than curiosity.

Regina laughed at her captive in the cell, but admired her bravery to actually ask. The truth was she was sick of keeping her around but now she had the perfect plan to deal with her. She needed the girl to be alive just in case she ever had need of her against Rumplestiltskin, but she couldn't keep the girl here in her castle any longer. It was too dangerous and if the Dark One ever caught onto her plan and found Belle here, she would be in a world of trouble.

"Then what do you plan, you're _Majesty_," the insolent girl had the guts to mock her.

"I have come to tell you that I have decided to let you go, you are more trouble to keep than you are worth and I want you out"

She wasn't buying it. "After what you went through to get me locked in this cell you expect me to believe that you would just let me go on a whim? I'm not an idiot"

"I never said you were, but it is the truth"

Belle paused, waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never came. "What's the catch?"

The evil smile that lined her face made Belle uncomfortable, and a little worried. "The 'catch' is that no one will be able to understand anything you are saying to them, no one will know who you are"

"What do you mean?"

She didn't answer; instead she started waving her hand in a curious motion. Belle gasped as long tendrils of sickly smoke came slithering towards her, twisting around her legs and climbing up her lithe body. She wriggled to free herself from the magic, but the spell kept her still. Before she could ask what was happening, her skin began to burn as needles stabbed through, sticking out like spikes all down her arms and back. Her legs were shrinking, skin morphing into a coarse hide while her feet were stretched and bent in ungodly ways. Her mouth and nose merged and became as tough as hollowed bone. The spikes grew like spines and suddenly her arms were coated in feathers. Her breasts moulded together and were subsequently covered in soft down. She lost her fingers, the digits joining into a single point where long white feathers spread from and her toenails curled down and blackened into talons. She tried to scream at the unimaginable pain these changes created, but all that came out was a blood-curdling screech.

Lying on the cold floor with only her heavying chest to signify that her life still continued, she lifted her head to look over what had been done to her. Regina tossed a hand mirror on the floor and laughed at her handiwork.

Belle crept towards the mirror, stretching her leg out in front of her in caution with every step, as though the mirror was booby trapped. It was then that she realised her leg was white and fluffy down to her feet where sharp claws lay. She hurried towards the mirror now wanting to know what creature the queen had turned her into. Her breath left her when a set of intense blue orbs looked back at her, set above a shiny ashen yellow beak. Her face was set in a shape that almost resembled a heart and it was completely white as snow. Her entire body was covered in flakes of white feathers and when she held out her arms to inspect them she found two massive wings as gold as the straw her True Love spun.

"You turned me into an owl? A barn owl?" She looked at Regina, wondering why she had chosen such a beautiful and majestic animal. She could have done a lot worse, she had to admit.

"I'm sorry my dear, what was that? All I heard was a screech"

She was about to tell the queen off for mocking her when she realised she was right. She couldn't speak any human language; all she could do was make the sounds of a large bird. This was what she meant by keeping anyone from understanding her.

Regina flicked her wrist towards the barred window and the bars vanished in a puff of smoke. Belle saw her freedom awaiting her, but she was still unsure about this plan of the Queen's, what was it supposed to lead to? She decided it best to take the opportunity before it was taken away and she turned towards the window. _Ok, I'm an owl, I'm a bird and I can fly, so let's give this a go_. Stretching out her wings, she took a few tentative steps and jumped up, flapping wildly. She must have looked ridiculous, rocking from side to side, because she certainly felt that way. After a few failed attempts to get off the ground the Queen lost patience with her. With a wave of her hand Belle was flung out the window and gone from the Queen's mind.

The wind whipped around her, trying to make her spin. She spread her wings and flapped furiously, terrified of hitting the ground at these speeds. She swayed from side to side, unable to get it quite right. It was so much more difficult than it seemed. With her wings above her head and the tips flailing about, she screeched when she saw the ground coming closer. Fighting against the wind, she forced the full length of both wings down and back up and then down again. Her decent slowed and she drew her legs against her body as though by some instinct.

It was a lot of work to straighten herself, but finally she was hovering in the air, no longer falling through it. She used her place and wings to reach a rooftop not too far away, stretching out her legs to grasp the corner. Sitting her feathery rump down, she took a deep steadying breath and sighed with relief.

She really needed to practise this flying thing before she tried any great feats like that again. Her arms were killing her, the effort needed to make her wings keep her in the air more than she had ever expected. She imagined it got easier with practise, and her head was heavy with adrenaline. Creeping with the motion of a panicked cat, she looked around the tower for her next spot to fly to. Maybe she should start off with a little gliding just to get used to the feeling of her wings. She had read a book about owls once and she tried to draw up every word she had read, but she didn't get much other than 'owlets start with branching', which was something quite like what she was about to do. Leaving the hollow and gliding from one branch to another before they ever tried actual flying was how most owls learned to fly in the beginning, but she didn't have much time, so she needed to learn fast.

Spying a lower roof that didn't require too much control on her part, Belle sucked in a deep breath and stretched out her wings. She beat them a few times to get a better understanding of the strength they possessed and then leapt forward, praying to land in one piece.

The rising sun played in her eyes, trying to blind her as she kept a steady rhythm of left and right, trying desperately to concentrate on reaching her desired destination. If she could just get down to a safer height she could start working on flying up instead of just gliding down. Her wings were so sore already and her breath was ripped from her lungs when she miscalculated an angle adjustment, sending her sliding across the rooftop she had planned to land on and spinning down to the ground. Caught in the fatal mistake of failing to keep both wings in perfect sync, Belle's chest almost burst; her head thick with panic. She couldn't figure out how to stop herself from twisting like a tornado, plummeting towards the unforgiving earth that would surely see her splattered should she reach it.

'_Too late, it's too late!'_ Her mind screamed repeatedly, not helping in the least. The ground was so close now that she could see nothing else but her own death. Her own human instincts took over and she reached out for something grab hold of to stop her fall. How strange it was that her human instinct was what saved her life: the wind catching under her wide spread wings and stopping her quite suddenly in her descent. Her breath escaped her completely as she brushed over the grass, having only just escaped injury. She extended her legs, cursing her next blunder, forgetting the shortened length of her legs and hitting the ground with an unpleasant 'bop'.

Rolling forward, Belle landed on her back feeling quite overwhelmed. How did so many birds glide through the air all day long? Spinning and twirling, making it look so easy when it required so much complex thought and control. Maybe the Queen had known what she was doing, although she could have just turned her into a sparrow or a mouse or even a dog, it seemed so strange she would choose a creature that someone like Belle could almost enjoy being.

The oxygen returning to her lungs allowed her head to clear and Belle suddenly wondered if that had been Regina's plan to begin with? Had she chosen to make her an owl in the hopes that she would enjoy it so much she wouldn't want to change back? That seemed like a long shot, but then again for someone who had never experienced True Love perhaps she didn't understand how powerful it was. It didn't matter what animal she turned her into, Belle would always seek to find her True Love and be returned to her human form.

Finally breathing regularly again, Belle started rocking back and forth, trying to get to her feet. But they were so small and all she did was roll like a turtle on its back. Clearly Regina had also chosen this form so that she might make a fool of her. Folding up her wings and rolling to the side, Belle tucked her legs underneath and at last stood up straight. Her body was so different, all her weight and strength in different places and it was very disorienting.

Once she was on her feet though she found it much easier to move about. At least it was easy enough to figure out how to walk with such little legs. She still had knees, only they were facing the other way, which freaked her out just a little, and now her toes were much more flexible. She balanced on one leg, finding it surprisingly easy, and used the other foot to grab at a little rock. With the dexterity of human fingers, she picked up the cool stone and actually managed to juggle it up and down without dropping it. So her hands were now her feet, this was certainly a very interesting experience.

She knew she needed to get a move on and get back to the Dark Castle, but she also realised it was important for her to know how to control her body and use it to its greatest potential. She also needed time to formulate a plan, because she couldn't talk to people anymore and she doubted she would be able to get very close to Rumplestiltskin like this. What she needed to do was figure out a way to get inside the Dark Castle without getting herself tossed into a wall or...set on fire. She had never seen a single creature inside the castle, she figured Rumplestiltskin had some kind of enchantments to keep out the usual houseguests like spiders, flies and mice.

But she had seen birds near the windows, perhaps they could get to the castle, just not inside it. Belle remembered waking up one morning to a robin singing outside on her window sill. Maybe she could do the same. However, until then she would practise her skills. She had been gone for this long already, what were a few more days...or maybe a week.

Tossing the stone aside, Belle mapped out her immediate surroundings, noting that she was standing on the bridge of a mountain side, and the drop down was very steep. Her belly close to the ground, Belle crept forward slowly to peek over the edge, quickly jumping back when she realised how high up she was. Well, it would be a perfect point to jump off if she knew how to fly properly, but until she learnt more control she wasn't willing to take that risk just yet. But when she looked around there was really nowhere else for her to go. Of course she would manage to reach the ground without killing herself and end up stuck between two tall sections of the castle. Sighing deeply, Belle moved closer to the edge once more, looking for the closest checkpoint. There wasn't much straight ahead, but there was a village off to the left that she might be able to reach.

'_Well, no point standing here forever.'_ She thought. With one last scan around, she gathered up her courage and jumped.

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